Unkept Keepsakes

When I was a teenager, I went through a phase when I could not read enough of those Silhouette Desire romances. You know, the red-covered novels with advertisements that promise you a cute heart pendant on a gold chain, if you just agree to have the books shipped each month, in a carton of six.

I never got the shipments, since a friend got the books for free, but I confess that a part of me wanted the necklace. I never got that, either, but when I was cleaning out my office the other day, I found a box that dated back to high school, and in it was one of the advertisements ripped from one of those novels.

I know that there are many who think those romance novels are silly and stupid. I’ll grant that they are a bit formulaic. (More than a bit.) But now, I also know that they are an important entrance into professional writing for many authors, and that being successful in that genre can lead to much greater success, though it can also be a satisfying career in and of itself.

What I’m Writing: MissMeliss.com

The Brief No… we started our journey on a ship at sea, so lets end it with some “Land Ahoy!” Write about the destination… the port, the land, the horizon, the future… The Excerpt ZOE (sighing) So much has changed, Basil. When we met, you were primarily a scientist, an explorer… then the war happened, […]

The Brief How frustrating is it when you have to deliver something to a deadline, only to realise afterwards what you could have done better. So this is your opportunity to re-do a challenge. Pick any of the previous 26 challenges we’ve done, and write a NEW play following that brief. I bet you’ve […]

The Brief Find an expression, an idiom, a cliche, etc…and use it as a literal impetus for the play. Perhaps write a play about an apple standing at the gate and fighting a doctor? Perhaps a monologue by one patch of grass, envyingly looking at another’s greenness? Perhaps a tree trying desperately to tell a dog […]

What I’m Saying: The Bathtub Mermaid

Description: #Audio. #Blog This will be our year. All of ours. Excerpt: I know I’m not the only person who was more than ready to kick 2018 out the door, and welcome in the promise of a new year. Like a brand new pad of drawing paper, a brand new spiral notebook, a brand new […]

Description: #Audio. #Blog Entenmann’s coffeecake – the taste of home. Excerpt: And more often than not, the dessert would be an Entenmann’s coffeecake. The kind with a crumb topping and pastry cheese filling. That taste, slightly metallic from the foil tray, but always just enough sweetness to temper the strongest of coffees (or the brattiest […]

Description: #Audio. #Blog Musings on trains, real and toy. Excerpt: Train whistles never sound anything but mournful. My friend Stonefish says it’s just the physics of sound, but I think it’s more. I think there’s a romanticism associated with trains that never quite leaves us. Links and References Read the text of this piece at […]